Strangely, stolen Salvador Dali painting reappears by mail

A Salvador Dali painting titled "Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio" was stolen from a New York gallery in June.

A Salvador Dali painting titled "Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio" was stolen from a New York gallery in June. (Associated Press)

David Ng

Recovering stolen masterpieces can sometimes take years of police sleuthing. But in the case of a recently pilfered Salvador Dali painting, a resolution has come swiftly, if somewhat mysteriously.

Dali's "Cartel de Don Juan Tenirio" was recently mailed back to the New York gallery from which it was stolen June 19. The parcel, which the gallery received on Friday, was mailed from Greece, according to the New York Post, which was the first to report the bizarre return.

The culprit remains unknown, and the return address on the parcel is believed to be fake.

A surveillance video captured an unidentified man in the gallery around the same time the painting was believed to have been taken from a wall. The gallery is the Venus over Manhattan, located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York. The theft took place during business hours.

The painting has an estimated value of $150,000. The Post reported that police investigators and the gallery have confirmed the authenticity of the work.

The Post reported that the gallery received an email from an unknown sender earlier last week saying that the painting was being sent back.

The sudden reappearance of stolen art is not without precedent. Last year, a drawing that was attributed to Rembrandt was stolen from a hotel in Marina del Rey, only to resurface a few days later at a church in Encino.

Experts later cast doubt on the authenticity of that Rembrandt drawing.